Perceived Parenting Styles and Parental Bonding among a Sample of Adolescents Attending Adolescents’ Psychiatry Clinic at Ain Shams University Hospital

Abstract

Abstract Background Although family history of mental disorders is one of the most consistent and potent risk factors for mental disorders in offspring, both familial and non-familial environmental factors are thought to play a role in etiology. Many aspects of parenting, ranging from daily interactions to potentially traumatic experiences such as abuse and inter-parental conflict, may be not only mechanisms through which parental disorders confer increased risk to offspring but also independent risk factors for mental disorders. Aim of the Work Our study aimed to study perceived parenting styles among adolescents with different psychiatric disorders compared to adolescents without psychiatric disorder, study both maternal and paternal bonding among adolescents with different psychiatric disorders compared to adolescents without psychiatric disorder. Patients and Methods Our study was conducted in Ain Shams university hospital, precisely in the outpatient clinic of Okasha institute of psychiatry. We compared 50 adolescents diagnosed with different psychiatric disorders to 50 healthy adolescents. Participants were recruited from the outpatient clinic while a matched group of adolescents without psychiatric disorders was recruited from adolescents of employee working in Okasha institute of psychiatry. Results adolescents with different psychiatric disorders perceived their parents as more authoritarian, less authoritative. they also perceived their mothers as less permissive, while there was no significant difference between both groups regarding father's permissiveness. Low level of care and high level of overprotection were significantly correlated with all psychiatric disorders in the study group. Conclusion Pathogenic parenting styles characterized by high level of control and overprotection and low level of care are associated with wide range of psychiatric disorders in adolescents, while parenting styles characterized by high level of care seem to be protective against psychiatric disorders in adolescents.